1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to antennas and, in particular, to phased array antennas. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for optimizing the transmission and reception of radiation by elements in a phased array antenna based on a predicted future health state for elements in the phased array antenna.
2. Background
Phased array antennas are used in many applications. For example, phased array antennas may be used for communications, detecting objects, tracking the movement of objects, and other suitable applications.
A phased array antenna has antenna elements electrically connected to at least one of a transmitter and a receiver. These antenna elements may be referred to as elements. An antenna element is an electrical device that converts electrical signals into electromagnetic radiation, and electromagnetic radiation into electrical signals. For example, a phased array antenna may be configured to convert electrical signals received from a transmitter into electromagnetic radiation for transmission. Further, an antenna may be configured to convert electromagnetic radiation received at the phased array antenna by the elements into electrical signals to be sent to a receiver.
In some cases, the amplitudes, phases, or both amplitudes and phases of the respective electrical signals being received at or sent from the different antenna elements in the antenna may be varied to change a radiation pattern of the antenna. The antenna elements may be referred to just as “elements.” The radiation pattern of an antenna describes the directional dependence of the strength of the electromagnetic radiation transmitted by the antenna or the sensitivity of the antenna to electromagnetic radiation received by the antenna.
The different elements in a phased array antenna may degrade and may fail over time. As a result, the configuration for transmitting signals using the phased array antenna may vary from the desired pattern for a particular application. Consequently, the phased array antenna may not perform as desired during a mission.
Many of the platforms that carry a phased array antenna may not have the ability to detect the failure or degradation of elements in the phased array antenna. Additionally, many of these platforms also may not have the processing power to identify a new configuration during a mission if one or more elements failed during the course of the mission.
As a result, the mission may not provide a desired result. In some cases, the mission may be aborted, the phased array antenna may be reconfigured, and the mission restarted. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.